School of Art - University Electives, Semester 2 & Flexible Term, 2018

Your program requires you to complete courses from a list of University Elective options.  These courses can be from anywhere in the university, or from within the School of Art.  To choose your elective please visit the University Electives site. If you wish to enrol in a School of Art elective, note the following list of available electives in semester 2, 2018 and Flexible Term 2018.

For more information about a course, please contact the Studio Lead of the offering studio.

Course Information

Offering Studio & Studio Lead

Semester 2 University Electives

This course introduces you to the beginnings of Photography to the present day. You will examine the early photographers exploring the chemical and physical phenomena that define the medium of photography. You will also explore the techniques, processes, history, and cultural connections that are such a significant part of photography. The studio will be presented through a variety of activities including workshops, darkroom, experimentation, lectures, critical analysis, discussion, practice, presentation and reflection. 

In this course you will investigate how photography functions within a fine art context. This is investigated through an overview of historical and contemporary photographic ideas and practice. You will be exposed to a diverse range of significant local and international artists who draw upon a variety of photographic technologies in their practice, and investigate the language of photography and how it informs fine art photographic image making. The course provides you with opportunities to respond to lectures and explore ways of processing and articulating your own ideas with traditional and experimental photographic techniques. Class activities aim to engage you in applying photographic discourse to your contemporary art practice.

In this course you will explore the possibilities offered by the artist’s book for the presentation of visual information and ideas. A broad range of book binding methods will be introduced and applied in studio workshops that encourage you to think laterally about what a book might be and how a narrative might be constructed. The methods of bookbinding covered in this course incorporate both adhesive and non-adhesive book binding methods, from simple folding techniques to more formal sewn binding methods. You will discuss and apply bookbinding methods appropriate to a range of mediums in order to extend your art practice.

In this course you will explore and experiment with the physical properties of materials and develop fundamental skills in the making of objects through ceramic methods. You will also address conceptual and technical concerns related to the making of objects.

In this course you will learn fundamental skills and approaches to drawing from the figure and associated studio skills exploring the application of appropriate materials in a range of drawing modes and expressive and analytical approached to perceptual drawing. You will gain technical aspects of perspective and non­-perspective approaches to visual representation; composition and figure/ground relationships and serial & sequential ways of working. As well as exploring the studio methods and materials associated with life drawing and aesthetics, you will develop and apply its attendant language and concepts.

In this course you will be introduced to the basic knowledge and skills required in the making of jewellery and small-scale objects. You will explore new possibilities for creating jewellery and objects, through the relationship to the body and experimentation with a broad range of materials, including metal.

Through practical workshops this course introduces and explores a range of processes and techniques of lithography as a medium for drawing. Line and wash techniques will be developed over a series of projects. This elective provides an introduction to lithographic skills processes, such as, preparing a stone, drawing on a stone, processing the stone with adding and subtracting to your image as well as providing ongoing students with an opportunity to extend existing skills. You will gain an understanding of safe handling of materials and processes within the lithography studio, and how to apply these to the visual expression of conceptual principles.

The course aims to further enhance the skills and professional requirements of commercial photographic practice on location. You will be required to investigate and observe multiple locations. You will identify and propose appropriate visual narratives that will examine and interpret the lighting and design elements of your chosen locations. You will capture images that demonstrate technical control of digital workflows and lighting control with an emphasis on creativity and interpretation. You will present your work and justify the outcomes achieved. The assignments lead to self direction and independence.

This painting course will help you to understand the relationships between idea, concept, form and material as you begin to develop an individual approach to your art practice. Structured projects introduce you to composition, colour mixing, limited palette, working from observation, collage and a variety of technical approaches to painting.

The course approaches the medium of photography firstly as a unique approach to human communication, secondly as an art form, and thirdly as a medium that requires the acquisition of a unique set of technical skills. In studying this course you will be shown how photography has developed throughout its history. We will discuss how our growing understanding of the principles of human perception and communication has influenced photography. You will be introduced to basic principles of the camera and you will also be provided with techniques for responding to the content and structure of photographs.In this course you will experiment with image design and creation to communicate specific messages to target audiences.This course will provide you with the opportunity to examine and establish professional image capture workflows using a DSLR and/or interchangeable lens camera. You will develop skills in how to control image formation and the resulting visual communication using semi-automatic and manual exposure controls to capture a broad range of subject matter with control and accuracy.

This course introduces the practice of art in public spaces. You will explore a range of works created outside the gallery or domestic environment including street installation, public painting and sculpture, light works, performative or relational works, virtual projects and art integrated within landscape and the built environment. You will review and critique the role of these works in contributing to ideas of public space. Your investigation and reflections will inform how your work will develop and move into public spaces and inform the development of your projects about and for public space.

This course is designed to introduce students to the traditions of sculpture within the framework of a current art practice and to develop sculptural values and competence in the use of materials and techniques. In this course you will develop a greater understanding of sculptural concepts and materials through the establishment and/or further investigation of a personal art practice based in object making. Students will be introduced to the skills of modelling, carving, wood and metal construction using materials such as clay, plaster, wood and wire.

In this cross-disciplinary art & design research course you will engage with a renowned international construction company to create a series of artworks to activate highly visible construction hoardings installed at a CBD construction site. You will engage in a cross-disciplinary art & design work integrated learning project, working individually and in groups to respond to an industry standard brief for a temporary artistic public intervention. You will receive and apply industry feedback in order to submit a concept to industry stakeholders with a potential opportunity to be selected to have your final concept physically realised at the CBD construction site.

This course will introduce you to the use of the recording studio as a creative tool. You will be presented with an overview of the history, philosophy and techniques in utilizing the recording studio for creative outcomes. Using listening examples, you will learn how to objectively analyse and dissect pieces of music to reveal the techniques and approaches used in producing a wide range of audio material. This will be reinforced by practical examination of a variety of these techniques through using the recording studio. In your work for this course you will be expected to use the skills and information you garner in this course to develop and experiment with your own production style and approach.

This course provides an overview of key trends and concepts that have informed the development of sound design and music in narrative film.

In this course you will explore and experience a range of materials and processes using digital manufacturing techniques and CAD modelling software to build jewellery and objects. Digital manufacturing processes covered will include laser cutting, object printing, and thermojet wax printing. CAD modelling will focus on learning basic to advanced rhino software.You will develop strategies for the integration of digital manufactured objects into the building of 3 dimensional forms. You will explore conceptual, perceptual, formal and aesthetic concerns in the rapid prototyping of jewellery and objects and reflect on these in relation to your own practice.

In this course you will examine technical, historical and theoretical aspects of video art practice. The course encourages you to develop a critical dialogue between your practice and the history of video art, as they relate to installation and screening-based modes of exhibition. Through a series of exercises and a program of integrated screenings, class discussions and gallery visits, the practical demands of video production will be contextualised.

Flexible Term University Electives

In this course you will investigate how photography functions within a fine art context. This is investigated through an overview of historical and contemporary photographic ideas and practice. You will be exposed to a diverse range of significant local and international artists who draw upon a variety of photographic technologies in their practice, and investigate the language of photography and how it informs fine art photographic image making. The course provides you with opportunities to respond to lectures and explore ways of processing and articulating your own ideas with traditional and experimental photographic techniques. Class activities aim to engage you in applying photographic discourse to your contemporary art practice.

In this course you will investigate your changing relationship to place through art making via an intensive field trip over several days. You will explore intuitively and reflectively ideas of spatiality and the landscape, the body and human presence in the environment, metaphorical and micro/macro spaces. By drawing on ideas and practices in art and the sciences, you will examine the effect of various technologies such as drawing, painting, photography, sound movement & the moving image on our perception and representation of environment. You will relate these ideas and methods to your studio practice. Plein­air work is integral to this study intensive.

The Rome and Florence Fine Art Global Intensives are two weeks of painting and drawing in the heart of these two great cities. All accommodation is included in the costs. We will be affiliated with the SACI Institute, Florence. The tour specifically focuses on ‘plein air’ painting and drawing within the cultural and everyday life in those cities. You will engage in learning by identifying and investigating particular cultural, historical and contemporary aspects of the art world in the city you visit. Your knowledge and personal meaning will be fostered through active participation and reflection on experiential learning activities. Being immersed in the experiential aspects of your learning will help to inform your own practice and interest in contemporary fine art, architecture, design and culture.

The Berlin-Paris-Arles Study Tour provides students with an exciting alternative to traditional classroom based learning. It offers students first hand experience of the shaping of knowledge through experience of the cultural, historical and contemporary aspects of art and photographic practice in Europe. The course aims to develop student’s self awareness and the ability to think critically about what they are experiencing and to keep effective written journals and visual diaries that are later sourced for writing an essay on their experience. Whilst in Berlin and Paris, the tour will visit a number of major museums, contemporary galleries, artist’s studios, and connect with working photographers to gain an understanding of both art and commercial areas. In Arles the tour will focus on The Rencontres d’Arles, one of the leading photography festivals in the world. Beginning in 1970, the festival has a mandate to exclusively program new work, and has over 60 exhibitions located throughout the city and a 6 day program of events. In 2015 the festival attracted more than 93,000 visitors. The study tour will provide the students with an excellent means to foster thoughtful reflection about cross-cultural contexts, and appreciate the diversity, in addition to developing an understanding of photography and art markets.